International ferry fares 2019 update

An update of our international ferry fares comparison is long overdue. So here it is for January 2019. As you can notice, Auckland still has the second highest monthly ferry passes - after the Isle of Wight, despite Brexit pound problems, and a few years of competition in Auckland from Explore.

Service	Aug-08	Oct-10	Sep-11	Jan-19	Ride length mins	Notes
Auckland - Waiheke (NZ)	$344	$330	$350 / $19 a trip	$365 / $26 a trip	35	Includes Waiheke bus (includes selected bus services in Auckland prior to 2018)
Wellington - Eastbourne* (NZ)	$245	$252	$252	$270 / $12 a trip	20
Seattle - Vashon (USA)	US$118 / $166	US$3.75 / $4.90 a trip	US$3.75 / $4.60 a trip	US$71.85 / $105 US$5.55 / $8.11 a trip	22	31 ride
Seattle - Bainbridge Island (USA)				US$109.60 / $160	35	31 ride
San Diego - Coronado* (USA)	Free	Free	Free	Free	15
New York - Staten Island* (USA)	Free	Free	Free	Free	25
Sydney ferries* (AUS)	A$1,280 / $1,562 to A$2,200 / $2,684 a year	A$41 / $53.70 to A$57/ $74.40 a week	A$42.20 / $53.58 to A$52.80 / $67.03 for 10 rides	A$63.20 / $66 a week		Opal capped fare, for all mode travel
Boston ferries* (USA)	US$198 / $279	US$198 / $260.30	US$198 / $242.23	US$308 / $450		All mode travel
Alameda - Oakland* (USA)	US$170 / $240	US$170 / $223.50	US$170 / $207.98	US$8.80 / $12.87 a ride	20	40 rides within one month, Clipper card fare in 2019
Hong Kong Star Ferry*(HK)	HK$110 / $20	HK$125 / $21.20	HK$125 / $19.61	HK$135 / $25.16	9
Vancouver Translink (CAN)	C$73 / $99 to C$136 / $184	C$81 / $106.60 to C$151 / $198.70	C$81 / $99.18 to C$151 / $184.90	C$95 / $105.10 to C$174 / $192.50		Zone based, all travel modes
Maine Portland (USA)	US$87 / $123.50 to US$127.50 / $181	US$82.45 / $108.40 to US$125.15 / $164.50	US$82.45 / $100.87 to US$125.15 / $153.11	US$82.45 / $120.55 to US$125.15 / $183		Various islands
Isle of Wight (UK)	£150.80 / $392	£163 / $343.70	£171.50 / $332.52	£205 / $395.60	22
Vlissingen-Breskens* (NL)		€69.50 / $130	€69.50 / $115.53	€68.81 / $114.48 €2.69 / $4.47 a ride	23	B-tag card
Den Helder-Texel (NL)		€30 / $55	€30 / $49.87	€30 / $49.90	20	15 return tickets
Istanbul ferries* (TU)			TL1.75 / $1.18 a ride	TL2.55 / $0.71 a ride		Istanbul card, all mode travel

All exchange rates were calculated on the day of research and are not at PPP level.
* Denotes not an island-only service, passengers have land based transport options.

The reckoning

Time to indulge in some predictions. How will Fullers recuperate the lost revenue over the past 18 months from Waihekeans (Explore traitors and the faithful alike)?

How much money is it?

Let's assume an easy figure of 1,000 monthly pass holders in September 2014 at $355 (and no need for 'special' discounted fares) a pop. That's $355,000 a month. If Explore had not turned up, that would be around $6,400,000 revenue over the 18 months of competition.

As Explore pinched around 25% market share, the revenue from monthly passes was 750 times $325 a month (the eternal "special" fare trumpeted in their media ads) totalling about $4,400,000.

Roughly, Fullers lost $2,000,000 from Waiheke commuters alone when Explore was running. And that's not counting the doubling of its operating costs when Fullers doubled its number of sailings.

Ballpark figures, of course, everything is commercially confidential as they never tire of telling us. You can adapt the amounts but it's certain a considerable sum. And mind you, this does not include the losses in market share in other tickets such as tourist single fares and multi-rides.

On the plus side, Fullers enjoyed 100% of the super gold card cash, despite Explore carrying pensioners too, and was never obliged to share that loot until very late in the day. Fullers owes Winston Peters a big donation for that political help!

For Fullers passengers who remained loyal there was only upside: extra sailings, discounted monthly passes making a saving for them of $400,000 ($30 x 750 x 18) that was able to be spent on Waiheke on other things.

So how to recuperate the lost $2 million?

The time frame for this should be about 6 months, because then the tourist season starts and commuters are just a nuisance taking up space on the boats that could be sold more profitably to tourists.

Spread out over 1,000 monthly pass holders that means about $330 extra per month on top of the current monthly pass price. So expect $685 monthly pass fares ($355 - the discount no longer applies - plus $330). This can be mitigated by upping all other fares, of course, so the cost doesn't get borne by commuters only.

How to sell this?

You may have noticed crude oil prices have gone up recently. Fullers could spin this increase from $30 to $45 a barrel as a 50% increase that needs to be reflected in fares. They have done this effectively in the past anyway when the barrel price went to $250. That's half of the increase covered.

The other half can be accounted for by spinning the costs of taking on 35 former Explore staff. Surely we will not begrudge those lovely boys employment and pay for them?

Solved. 

Auckland Transport consultation on RPTP

Auckland Transport is consulting on aspects of its Regional Public Transport Plan (RPTP). This is our submission:

There is a glaring and unjustifiable omission from the proposed zones: Waiheke Island. We are Auckland City ratepayers and we have every right to be included in the zone system, especially since one of the public transport companies on Waiheke is subsidised by AT and one company accepts (single fare) Hop cards. Waiheke Islanders should have the ability to travel from Waiheke to the City centre on one fare, just as is ­proposed for travellers on the mainland going the same distance. Travellers using their Super Gold Card already enjoy this integrated privilege and it should be extended to all island travellers. The fare structure should be the same as for Manukau South to the CBD, i.e. Zone 4. Using a zonal Hop card on any travel mode (bus/train/ferry) should not make a difference to the fare for the distance travelled.

Regards the proposed zone fares, Zone 4 indicates a $6-$6.50 range (compared to a $9.50-$10 cash range). This seems a fair ferry fare. Currently both ferry companies charge a ‘tourist’ premium on their single fares of around $20. For Waiheke regular travellers and commuters, who have access to multi-ride and season tickets, the fares are already at the Zone 4 cash range.

In the ‘proposed fare products’ you need to delete the reference to ‘inner-harbour ferries’ and include Waiheke ferries too. The Hop single day and monthly passes (plus any others planned) should be available on Waiheke too, as it is/will be in any Zone 4 area.

In summary:

-          Waiheke Island to be included in the proposed zone system;

-          Island-serving ferry and bus companies integrated in the city-wide fares system on an equitable (distance) basis;

-          Seasonal Hop passes covering all transport modes city-wide, including all ferries.

I understand that AT has had historical trouble (as did its predecessor, the ARTA) in reigning in Fullers’ monopoly and has still not succeeded in integrating that company properly by abolishing the PTOM exemption. This not the public transport regulator’s only failure. The Fullers monopoly now seems broken on the ferry service (no thanks to AT) by the Explore Group. But Explore is not even mentioned in any plans to be included in the Hop fare system (let alone getting a proper working berth on Pier 2). Why these oversights and shortcomings? And when are they going to be remedied?

Fullers ups all fares at the start of the tourism season

From 1 November all Fullers fares on the Waiheke ferry run will increase by just under 2% (there is one small mercy: dogs will still be carried free). The complete list of changes is in this PDF file.
Since you know us as complete cynics, we suspect they are pre-financing the new ferry due next year (despite strenuous promises by a former Local Board member it will arrive this November) by charging passengers extra that will cover the construction and commission cost. But we also hear the usual protestations of the annual litany of increased labour and fuel costs and increased wharf berthing charges (presumably not covered by the wharf tax already in place). Our hearts bleed every year too.

Meanwhile, still no fare integration with the rest of Auckland public transport (especially trains) and we have seen the introduction of a separate Galaxy card, with its attendant teething problems (one morning my card refused to be read and the Fullers employee looked scoldingly at me as if that was my problem). Why we don't have Auckland-wide, all mode Hop Cards is still a mystery.

There was also the little survey that was doing the rounds on a possible later Sunday night sailing from town at 10:30pm and from Waiheke at 11:30pm. This is long overdue but Fullers is owned by a Scottish Presbyterian who would prefer us to be in bed by sundown to be well-rested for the looming working week. Weekend tourists surely wouldn't mind a later sailing back to mediocrity.

The Summer's atrocious service now to be charged to Waihekeans

After an atrocious Summer for passenger experience on Fullers ferries, with several vessels more than occasionally out of service, Quickcat laid up for a Summer rest and multiple smaller boats overloaded to cope with the crowds wanting to share the buzz on the island, the cash flow must have been a bumper one, judging by the TV performance of the company's CEO on Campbell Live the other day, swatting away any criticism of being an overpriced monopoly sucking on the supergold card subsidy teat. Now that Quickcat is back in service, with an expensive engine repaired, the costs have to be recouped lest the Souter kids go hungry, the monthly pass fare in April is set to rise by 10% to $355 $350, according to the Fullers fares website.

Fullers ups fares

This is how we feel about the Fullers fare hikes:

A fare price increase notification by txt

Fullers trying to show they are up with the technological times (no, no, not free wi-fi on board, that would be too radical) and texted us their news the Waiheke run fares will go up just in time for the long Labour weekend. Monthly passes by $5 and town return fares by 50c. Not a huge amount but judging from reactions I've had it's been resented by passengers none the less, who are unimpressed by the usual PR spin by the company (fuel prices, blah-blah, labour costs, blah-blah, expensive engine repairs for Superflyte and Quickcat).

"Winter" breakdowns are happening earlier and earlier

"Unplanned maintenance". That dreaded text message which means high capacity boats are taken out of service for any length of time. This time it was Superflyte which, reportedly, struck a 'submerged object' that knocked out one of the rotor blades. So off to Whangarei for repairs and off the run until at least the weekend. And we collectively hold our breath.


You have also noticed the monthly pass price went back up to $350 in February. I innocently asked the counter attendant whether that would mean more boats (or even boats that run and arrive on time), but she laughed hollowly at me. Welcome back to the cost-plus-plus world of Fullers.

International ferry fare comparison update

In August 2008 and October 2010 we did research into various ferry fares around the world. So we are now doing an update and comparison over 3 years.
The Waiheke ferry is still up there among the most expensive in the world, not really a change there. What has changed is an increase in the number of integrated ticketing systems available for all transport modes within a geographical region – even in so-called developing countries like Turkey -  something we are still waiting for in Auckland.

Service	Aug 2008	Oct 2010	Sep 2011	Ride length	Notes
Auckland-Waiheke (NZ)	$344	$330	$350 $19 a trip	35mins	Valid for Waiheke ferry, bus and selected Auckland bus services
Wellington-Eastbourne* (NZ)	$245	$252	$252	20mins
Seattle-Vashon (USA)	US$118/$166	US$3.75/$4.90 a trip	US$3.75/$4.60 a trip	22mins	Orca card prepay
West Seattle-Vashon (USA)	US$55/$78	US$53.50/$70.30	US$3/$3.67 a trip	10mins	Orca card prepay
Seattle-Kingston (USA)		US$275/$361.50	US$250/$305.85 for 40 rides	50mins	Limited service
San Diego-Coronado* (USA)	Free	Free	Free	15mins
New York-Staten Island* (USA)	Free	Free	Free	25mins
Sydney ferries* (AUS)	A$1,280/$1,562 to A$2,200/$2,684 a year	A$41/$53.70 to A$57/$74.40 a week	A$42.20/$53.58 to A$52.80/$67.03 for 10 rides
Boston ferries* (USA)	US$198/$279	US$198/$260.30	US$198/$242.23		All mode travel
Alameda-Oakland* (USA)	US$170/$240	US$170/$223.50	US$170/$207.98	20mins	40 rides within one month
Hong Kong Star Ferry* (HK)	HK$110/$20	HK$125/$21.20	HSK$125/$19.61	9mins
Vancouver Translink (CAN)	C$73/$99 to C$136/$184	C$81/$106.60 to C$151/$198.70	C$81/$99.18 to C$151/$184.90		Zone based, all travel modes
Maine Portland (USA)	US$87/$123.50 to US$127.50/$181	US$82.45/$108.40 to US$125.15/$164.50	US$82.45/$100.87 to US$125.15/$153.11		Various islands
Isle of Wight (UK)	£150.80/$392	£163/$343.70	£171.50/$332.52	22mins
Vlissingen-Breskens* (NL)		€69.50/$130	€69.50/$115.53	20mins
Den Helder-Texel (NL)		€30/$55	€30/$49.87	20mins	15 return tickets on OV- chipcard
Istanbul ferries*			TL1.75/$1.18 a trip		Istanbul card

Notes: All prices are for monthly passes and ferry travel only, unless stated otherwise. The exchange rates are at Aug 2008, Oct 2010 and Sep 2011.
* denotes not an island service, passengers have other (land-based) transport options.